Can artificial sweeteners change your DNA?

The health industry has been divided on whether artificial sweeteners are healthy or not. Some suggested that they can cause cancer and other diseases, while others claim there is no safety issue and that they’re a great low-calorie alternative to regular sugar. New research has found a chemical in artificial sweeteners that may lead to DNA damage and cancer. Can Artificial Sweetners Change your DNA?

While this is a preliminary study and more research is needed to confirm the claims, the National Cancer Institute is now checking into the research on sucralose and its status as a potential carcinogen.

Sucralose is an ingredient commonly found in artificial sweeteners. It is found in everything from sugar-free items to sodas. Sucralose itself seems to be harmless. However, a compound in sucralose called sucralose-6-acetate is problematic.

To better understand what sucralose is and its safety, let’s look into the history of it.

For the cliffnotes version of this article, check out Dr. Ken Browns TikTok video giving you a quick rundown of this new research.

History of Sucralose

Sucralose was originally created to find an industrial alternative to sucrose, commonly known as table sugar. Sucralose was founded in London at the Queen Elizabeth College.

They took the sucrose structure and replaced 3 of the hydroxyl groups with chlorine atoms. This turned sucrose into trichlorogalactosucrose (TSG) or what we now call sucralose.

During the manufacturing process, sucralose-6-acetate is synthesized from sucrose. It is then deacylated into sucralose. However, the impurities of sucralose-6-acetate remain in the final product.

Sucralose, like other chemicals, has a predetermined Accepted Daily Intake (ADI). Unfortunately, these safety levels were determined in the 80s and 90s after testing on animals and humans. They were published in part in the early 2000s and never visited again. The following claims were made based on these studies:

It passes through the intestines unchanged and is stable in live study participants.
There were no effects on the gut flora.
There were no effects on the intestinal tissue.
It does not bioaccumulate.
Metabolism is not affected, this includes blood glucose and insulin levels.
It is not genotoxic. There were no biologically significant consequences, and it is heat stable.

The Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives suggested that based on this research, a safety level of 15 mg/kg was safe as a daily intake. The American FDA suggested a lower amount at 5 mg/kg per day.

The Truth Behind Sucralose

However, most recent research is proving most, if not all, of these statements are untrue.

For example, two different acetylated byproducts of sucralose were found in the feces of rats. This shows that it does not go through the intestines unchanged because it is metabolized. Furthermore, this study found that sucralose bioaccumulates in adipose tissues.

Other studies have shown that sucralose negatively impacts the gut microbiome. One study noted a decrease in beneficial microbes and an increase of fecal pH. Meanwhile, another study noted an increase in negative bacterial species, a decrease in positive bacteria, and gut dysbiosis-induced changes to insulin and glucose levels after the subjects consumed sucralose.

Studies in rats show that sucralose ingestion can cause intestinal damage. It also exacerbated colitis symptoms and created intestinal inflammation leading to further damage of the organs.

Study finds sucralose may be linked to DNA damage and cancer development

The main study we want to focus on has released information stating that the chemical in sucralose, sucralose-6-acetate is also genotoxic. This means that after consumption there is damage caused to the genes in our DNA.

DNA and gene damage leads to abnormal cellular and gene expression. This has been linked to cancer development. In addition to DNA damage, these genes promote oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress causes systemic inflammation that leads to cellular and tissue damage. This leads to disease and is a factor in the dysfunction of the immune system, making it more difficult to fight off diseases while increasing its potential for autoimmune diseases.

There were 8 tests done in this study. Some of the findings that indicate a potential for DNA damage from sucralose or its chemicals include:

The first portion tested the genotoxicity of sucralose-6-acetate on human TK6 cells through in vitro MultiFlow® Assay. This type of test determines if there are breaks in the DNA strands and if there are specific tumor proteins and other biomarkers that indicate DNA damage. This portion of the study found that initially there was no damage done, but after time there were breaks in the DNA strands.
An in vitro mammalian cell micronucleus (MN) test in TK6 cells. This portion was testing if cytoplasms exposed to sucralose-6-acetate would have MN present. MN are the resulting broken off fibers from DNA damage. It was also found that sucralose-6-acetate leads to DNA damage.
Using the RepliGut® system, they tested what sucralose and sucralose-6-acetate do to the transverse colon. They found that they negatively affect permeability and transepithelial electrical resistance. This information is important because it indicates the cause of a leaky gut which is known to lead to disease development.
1. The second leg of this experiment tested RNA sequence and gene expressions. Both sucralose and sucralose-6-acetate changed the gene expressions and RNA-sequencing in multiple ways affecting inflammatory markers, oxidative stress, and cancer potential.
Sucralose-6-acetate also affects the livers’ ability to metabolize chemicals which can affect certain medications.

Since there were 8 tests done, you might be wondering about the results of the others. There was either no proof that sucralose or sucralose-6-acetate negatively impacted those tests or that the results were inconclusive.

That being said…

Can artificial sweeteners change your DNA?

There are a few things to take into consideration here. First and foremost this is a preliminary study meaning it is initial evidence, but more testing needs to be done to confirm anything.

These results need to be replicated on larger scales and in more intricate ways. These studies were also all done in vitro, meaning while they are done in tests that replicate the human body, they may not actually work in the human body in the same way.

So while the data does look like artificial sweeteners (sucralose in this case) can alter DNA, we need to look at things more in-depth to have a full conclusion. These studies looked at sucralose and its chemical component sucralose-6-acetate. Sucralose-6-acetate can be removed for purity in the process of making foods with sucralose in them. However, as these studies show, our body can metabolize it in a way that sucralose-6-acetate is still there.

Sucralose-6-acetate seems to be more of an issue than sucralose itself but with all of the uncertainties after these studies, it is best to use caution when using artificial sweeteners.

Some great alternatives to sugar and artificial sweeteners are monk fruit, honey, maple syrup, and/or stevia.

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